Kirsten Reviews: Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire

Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire

October Daye #7

Things are starting to look up for October "Toby" Daye. She's training her squire, doing her job, and has finally allowed herself to grow closer to the local King of Cats. It seems like her life may finally be settling down...at least until dead changelings start appearing in the alleys of San Francisco, killed by an overdose of goblin fruit.

Toby's efforts to take the problem to the Queen of the Mists are met with harsh reprisals, leaving her under sentence of exile from her home and everyone she loves. Now Toby must find a way to reverse the Queens decree, get the goblin fruit off the streets--and, oh, yes, save her own life, since more than a few of her problems have once again followed her home. And then there's the question of the Queen herself, who seems increasingly unlikely to have a valid claim to the throne....

To find the answers, October and her friends will have to travel from the legendary Library of Stars into the hidden depths of the Kingdom of the Mists--and they'll have to do it fast, because time is running out. In faerie, some fates are worse than death.

October Daye is about to find out what they are.

Chimes at Midnight is the seventh book in Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series is perhaps not as wild a ride as some of the previous installments in the series, but it does give the titular character the opportunity to wrap up some plotlines and set others into motion.

There is a callback to the first book, and Toby must confront the dangerous and addictive fae fruit - goblin fruit. Toby must discover who is spreading goblin fruit and stop them, both of which would be difficult on their own, but combined, bring her into the path of a lot of trouble. She finds that the path of the fruit leads back to the Queen of the Mists, who has no love for Toby, and seeks to punish Toby for accusing her and interfering in her business. It is up to Toby to prove that this is not the true queen and replace her with the rightful fae heir, and she only has a few days to do so, or suffer the consequences.

This book sees Toby enjoying some happiness with her friends and loved ones, including Tybalt, May, and Quentin, but that peace does guarantee her an easy time of it. As someone who is more fae than human, she enjoys the benefits of her nonhuman skills, and when she loses her advantage, she has to rely on her intelligence, sneakiness, and allies to win her fights. This character thrives when she has to think on her feet, and the new obstacle prevents fae abilities from being the easy answer they might be in another series.

Several new characters are introduced, and a number of favorites return, making for a good mix of interactions and conflicts. With that, and the evolution that Toby has undergone still in progress, this book reveals a few things, and tosses a few more questions out there for future books, which will doubtless complicate Toby’s life, and keep things vibrant and interesting for readers.
(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Previous Books:
     1. Rosemary and Rue
     2. A Local Habitation
     3. An Artificial Night
     4. Late Eclipses
     5. One Salt Sea
     6. Ashes of Honor